50 YEARS SINCE FIRST HEART TRANSPLANT

Sunday 03 December 2017 will be exactly 50 years since the first heart transplant was performed at Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital. The operation, led by Professor Christiaan Barnard, also occurred in the early hours of a Sunday morning back in 1967. Rodney Hewitson ( ) was a Senior Surgeon who assisted Barnard that night. Hewitson was the one who physically placed the donor’s heart into the recipient’s empty chest.
At the Heart of Cape Town Museum the actual operating theatres have been restored. 90% Of the display involves equipment used during the procedure. Hewitson can be seen as standing next to Professor Barnard. He has, what the tour guide describes, as a characteristic stare.